VCP BBQ’s Killer Patio Chicken Thighs
Recipes From The Competition Circuit
Servings: 4 | Prep Time: 10 Minutes | Total Time: 60 Minutes
(This recipe will change your entire outlook on chicken thighs.)
Ingredient List:
- 8 Skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 ounces of all purpose BBQ rub
- 8 ounces of brown sugar
- 10 ounces of beef stock
- 12 ounces of Bravo Bravo Que KC Smoke BBQ sauce
- 6 ounces of Tiger Sauce (found in BBQ sauce aisle at your grocery store)
- 2 ounces of honey
- 2 ounces of white vinegar
Directions for Cooking Killer Patio Chicken Thighs
Take your chicken thighs out of the fridge and let them rest for 20 minutes. Take a prep knife and trim off the extra skin to make them uniform in size. Using the all purpose rub liberally cover each breast on both sides with the rub. Let them rest with the rub on for five minutes
Tips For The Grill Process: If you have a charcoal or wood grill that’s perfect, if not your gas grill will be fine, set the temperature to medium. You want to really sear these thighs but do not burn them. Prep your fire or gas grill for whatever time it takes to bring up to temp. Just before you put the thighs on the grill use a high temp oil like grape seed to oil the grill. Make sure you have a safe zone so you can move the chicken around if they get too hot.
Shop Traeger, Blackstone, Weber, Big Green Egg and many other brands of smokers and grills at AceHardware.com
Once the thighs go on the grill make sure and sear them good before turning. If your grill is hot you will need to turn them every few minutes so around 7 to 10 minutes keep turning them until they are a nice dark brown. Don’t worry if they are slightly charred it won’t hurt anything. You want to make sure the chicken is around 160 degrees before you take the thighs off the grill.
Do not overcook they will fall apart during the next step.
When the chicken is done take them off the grill and let them rest for five minutes before the last phase of the recipe. Depending on your grilling abilities the chicken could take between 20 and 40 minutes to complete. Obviously you don’t want to undercook your chicken thighs. Use an instant-read thermometer to test for doneness.
Preparing the liquid for a dip in the pool
You are going to make a sauce bath like you would braise something, boil something or as the French would say you are going to “Confit the chicken.”
In a mixing bowl dump all the rest of the ingredients and mix well making sure the brown sugar is no longer lumpy. Once the liquid is well mixed pour it in a half aluminum pan that you can buy at your grocery store. Put the pan on your grill and bring to a boil.
Once the liquid has a good slow boil carefully put all of the grilled patio chicken thighs in the pan. Use tongs.
(So here is where you have to be a bit careful. Use a good set of long-handle tongs to put the thighs in the pan and be extra careful not to tear the skin. When you were grilling the thighs some of the skin my have moved around on you and some of the skin will fall off in the bath.) Don’t freak out, it happens sometimes.
If you are comfortable with the temperature you can cover with foil. This bathing process is going to take between 25 and 35 minutes. Turn the thighs every 5 minutes. The longer the thighs stay in the bath the more flavor will build.
Once the patio chicken thighs are done take them out of the bath and let them rest.
Now you are ready to eat. However, you have an option. If you want to quickly put the thighs on the grill for a bit of grill flavor please do. Use some of the remaining sauce to glaze the tops while on the grill. Because of the brown sugar you will get smoke sticking to the grill action so put oil on the grill before you grill the patio chicken thighs. If your grill is hot don’t grill the thighs more than a couple of minutes.
Inspiration Sources: The boys from Publican in Chicago and Big Bob Gibson who helped make this recipe a big hit. Plus, we want to thank our friends from Grill Camp for the chicken bath idea.
